Quick Reaction: Bulls 118, Raptors 95

I was under the impression that Australia’s national sport was Cricket, but after Aaron Baynes’ performance on Sunday, I had to confirm with Google that it wasn’t missing layups. Baynes was the beneficiary of several passes presented to him on a silver platter this evening, but wasn’t able to convert on most of them. He’s shown flashes of promise in a reserve role, but performances like tonight’s make it abundantly clear that Aaron Baynes is not a starting center in the NBA.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Kyle Lowry was the Raptors most important player in this game – and it wasn’t close. Aside from Norm, he was really the only Raptor who was able to consistently generate scoring opportunities for himself and others. Kyle ignited a team that was in desperate need of a spark, but he needed more help.

Fun fact: Terrence Davis has averaged more points on the second half of back to back’s this season vs all other games he’s played in. He didn’t necessarily keep that peculiar trend alive on Sunday, going 2-9 on the night.

Stanimal was one of several Raptors bench bench players who failed to step up to the plate on Sunday evening. His perimeter defense was solid, but given the lack offense on the court, it was hard to keep him out there.

Powell started slow, but he was relied upon for scoring so much in this game, that things eventually started to click. He ended up being the Raptors saving grace, keeping them in this game during several stretches when the wheels nearly came off. When Lowry went to the bench, Powell was the heart of the Raps offense, and did an excellent job of igniting a spark on that side of the ball.

For a guy who played 27 minutes, you’d hope to have more to show for it than 3-2-2. The eye test also did Watson Jr. no favours in this game, as he seldom seemed eager to get involved on offense. He could often be found hanging out in the corners with his arms down.

Struggled to deal with the size of Wendell Carter Jr. and Lauri Markkanen on the defensive side of the ball tonight. He hit a couple catapult threes and did some good lanky stuff around the rim, but his shorthanded team needed more from him on a night on which they were in desperate need of buckets.

Ellenson took advantage of the opportunity presented to him tonight. He played a modest 20 minutes, but he made several plays on both sides of the ball that really made you notice him out there. His patience on offense paid off, allowing him to create opportunities for himself off shot fakes and dribble drives toward the rim.

Bembry struggled to convert a host of looks around the rim and struggled to generate offense as the stand in point guard when Lowry went to the bench. Energy feeds his game and he looked noticeably gassed from last nights game in Charlotte.

Typical Matt Thomas game, a couple good looking 3’s that almost went in, and sub par defense.

As soon as he checked into the game Yuta started positively contributing to winning basketball. He contested a Markkanen dunk at the rim and made an excellent backdoor cut. But then he went to the bench and we didn’t see him for the rest of the night, so what do I know?

There were definitely some things Nurse and Co. could have improved upon, but it’s hard to blame this one on the coaching staff. Fatigue and personnel were the root cause of most of the Raptors’ woes this evening.